Of the Innocent
by perfect.fluke
Summary: Nine-year old Stephanie Grant leaves the Jacinto Plateau in pursuit of the brother that left her. Outside of the home she's always known, lies the truth of what's been kept from her. But now, she has no one to protect her.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Gears of War obviously. If I did the game would probably suck. lol**_

_**This was based on a dream I had. Quite odd, actually.**_

_**I'm a girl if you're wondering. I really love GOW. I can't wait for the second one to come out. hehehe  
**_

_**I have another account on fictionpress (dot) com with my other stories if anyone's ever interested. I have the same user name on there as I do here. Message me if you can't find me.**_

_**Does anyone ever actually read the author blurb thingy-ma-bobbers? Someone please tell me.**_

_**Anyways as always on this site, Rate & Review and I'll do the same for you. Hey I rhymed! .**_

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Stephanie huddled against the cold wall in the closed place she was forced to hide in. She could hear the locust very clearly.

The war between the locust and the humans had been raging for years. Where Stephanie was now, was the biggest mistake of her nine-year old life. She was born and raised in the middle of the war. Fourteen years had passed since Emergence Day on Sera. Stephanie's family was one of the lucky survivors to reach Jacinto Plateau, the only safe haven. She was born into a world where she was taught to never leave Jacinto Plateau. But to her, it only raised her curiosity of what the outside world was like. No one told her what exactly was keeping everyone inside the plateau. Only that it was horrible and they could only wait to be saved by the COG soldiers.

_The day of her brother's birthday was the day that Stephanie's life turned another path._

_"Mom, I'm going to join the Coalition." Matthew said after he sent Stephanie out of the room. Stephanie found ways to listen in on her families conversations throughout the years. She knew they never told her anything. About the war, about the truth, about her father. As Stephanie watched through the cracks on the floorboards above her mother and her brother's conversation, her Mother held no reaction and had no emotion across her weary face. She just stared at Matt._

_"Mom, say something." His voice broke. "You support me, right? I can help Dad. I can help us win this war. Think about it! We can go back to the way we were before. Stephanie can have a normal life. She can finally meet Dad." His sentence ended softly into a whisper. Their Mother reach towards Matthew and took his hands into her trembling ones._

_"If I say no, we'd get into a fight and you'd go anyways. I don't want you to leave, hating me." She held his hands tight across the table. "How are you going? Are you going alone?"_

_"I'm not going to be alone, Damien and the others have decided to come along. We'll be leaving tomorrow. I've confirmed it with the outside. Do you remember Rojas? One of Dad's friends on the Alpha team. I've contacted him and he can probably give me information on where Dad is." He stood up and walked around the table to hug her. "Mom, I promise things will get better." _

_"I believe you." She nodded then looked at the door. "What are you going to tell Stephy?"_

_"I don't know. Could you make up something? I can't tell her the truth. She'll want to come with me." Matthew said worriedly. Their Mother gave him a cross look._

_"And just what am I supposed to tell her? Are you going to leave without saying good bye to her? What will she think of you then?" She said loudly. Stephanie moved a little at the sound of her Mother's voice and accidently made the boards squeak. They both looked up to where Stephanie was. They became quiet._

_"Sshhh. . . Stephy will hear you." Matthew said condolingly.

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_

Stephanie regretted being so curious and always listening in. It would have kept her from following her brother out of Jacinto.

* * *

_"Stephy," Matthew held her shoulders as he crouched down to her level. "I'm going to be leaving you and Mom for a while." Their Mother stood with the crowd, there to bid the group goodbye._

_"Where are you going?" She pouted. "Why are you wearing those funny clothes?" She poked at the COG armor._

_"I'll be back on day, Stephy. I promise. You have to promise me you'll be good, okay?" He said soothingly. He noticed the defiance in her eyes and sighed. He reached around his neck and unclasped the necklace Stephanie always envied. His "water crystal" as he called it many times. It definitely looked like water. Not solid at all, but whenever Stephanie touched it, expecting it to flow into water, it was always as hard as a rock._

_"Here." He dropped it onto her open hands. She held it up to the sun. As soon as it touched the light, the clear rock changed. Colours of all sorts swirled around inside the crystal. "I'll leave this with you till I get back." He took it and tied it around her neck. She looked down admiringly at it._

_"I'm coming with you." Stephanie said looking up suddenly. Matthew's friends laughed at Stephanie's determination. She glared at them and grabbed Matthew in a tight hug. "Matt, please don't leave me!"_

_"I'm sorry, Stephy." He stood up with a grim expression pasted on his face._

_"Alright, boys, let's do this." Damien, one of Matt's friends, yelled out with a fist in the air. And one by one, they all boarded the truck. Matt made a move to follow. Stephanie grabbed his arm in her small hands and attempted to pull him back. He pulled her hand off and walked on._

_"Stop it Stephy." He said sternly. She ran to him, unable to walk as fast as he did. She hit him with her fists, only to bruise her knuckles._

_"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" She yelled repeatedly. He climbed into the back of the truck with the other soldiers. They lifted the gate. Stephanie couldn't reach him anymore. She looked up at him with hate and he looked away. Tears were flowing out of her unblinking eyes. As they started driving off, she took off in the other direction, hurt by her brother's actions._

_The next day Stephanie__ was silent the whole day. Her Mother tried talking to her and place comforting words in her ears but Stephanie didn't listen. She ate quietly and left to her room quietly throughout the day._

_Stephanie sat at her desk looking out the window. The sun was already setting. She raised the water crystal up to the remaining light of the sun. Everyone was leaving her. Her Father left before she was even born. Now, her brother left her. She walked over to window and tried to close the shutters. They were to high for her to reach. She was too short. Matthew always closed it for her._

_Stephanie gave up closing the blinds and paused for a moment. Thinking. Suddenly she ran to her closet and started rummaging through it. She found her backpack and started taking out the items inside and threw them into the corner of the closet. Her schoolbooks, paper, pens were all discarded and buried under the piles of clothing. Pieces of clothing replaced the inside of the backpack. She ran downstairs and grabbed some leftover food. Her Mother was out probably talking with some of the other neighbors as always. She stuffed the bag as much as she could without making it too heavy._

_The sun was almost down and Stephanie was finally done. Her room was dim. Before she left, a note for her Mother was left on top of her desk lying in her teddy bear's arms._

She had only stopped to eat lunch in the quiet streets. She sat against a worn down building and stuffed a sandwich into her mouth greedily. She looked up at the bright sky. It was amazing that such a beautiful place was so worn down and ruined. A buzzing sound filled her ears and she looked around in panic hoping it wasn't the locust. Overhead she saw huge machines fly over the buildings.

"Those are. . . helicopters?" She said to herself. "Matt!" She said suddenly realizing he could be right above her. The helicopters were the ones with open side and they were close enough for Stephanie to see what was inside. Definitely COG soldiers. She could even see a person with their legs hanging over the side, looking down and shooting. Which meant there were also locust around too probably. Stephanie ran towards the direction the helicopters were heading, waving her arms as much as she could to catch their attention. They didn't see her. Stephanie stopped running to catch her breath. She eyed the retreating helicopters enviously. How could they not see her? They could spot locust on the ground, but not a little girl?

The ground started to shake, causing Stephanie's knees to buckle under her. She fell to the ground on her hands and knees. The rumbling became louder and louder.

"No, no! Not now!" She cried and ran. She dove under some nearby ruins behind a broken car. There was a slab of concrete leaning against the higher rubble above her and Stephanie struggled to move the lighter parts of broken concrete out of the way to create a hidden shelter. Just in time, she managed to squeeze through the ruined concrete and hide as the ground near her blew open and locust came swarming out.

And here she was. Cold and uncomfortable. Trapped under the rubble she hid herself in. It really was horrible out of Jacinto. Another roar of the locusts made Stephanie cover her ears with fright. She whimpered as more explosions sounded. It was surprising how far she had made it. She didn't even know where she was going, looking for her brother. She should have been smarter and at least have done some research or something. But she didn't. And this was where it got her.

"Matt, I'm scared." She mewled out. Her knees were pressed tightly against her, giving her a little bit of comfort. She was covered in dirt and mud. Her clothes were so tattered and ripped that it let the wind breeze easily around her body when she had walked. It was lucky for her, finding out where the locust were coming out from. The ground. Those Emergence holes. They were so unexpected to her. She was so scared to walk in the middle of the ruined streets. An Emergence hole was exactly what made her stuck under rubble. She was running in and out of the buildings, looking for any sign of human life. It was tiring and she doubted she got very far each day.

"Go!" One of the locust yelled. Their voices were so hoarse. You couldn't tell what they were saying because all it sounded like was growling and snarls. A gunshot was sounded. No, it was louder and deeper than a gun sound. Like an explosion sound. A boom. Stephanie heard one of the locust scream in agony as well. She guessed that one of the locust had disobeyed an order or something. She didn't want to find out. Her whole body was shaking in fear. Their snarling at each other was loud enough. If they got any closer they would probably hear her shivering.

"BOOM!" The locust yelled. The ground shook and the slab of concrete she was using as a hiding place shifted a little. Stephanie hoped it wouldn't fall to expose her or even crush her. It seemed as if they were just fooling around, blowing things up. When would they leave?

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This may seem a littly stingy, but I won't update unless I get reviews.

So, yeah. lol


	2. Chapter 2

Apologies for ignoring this story and not updating lol.

I have to say here now, that considering this was written because of my weird dream, you readers probably won't like it on account of, what happens would not be possible and what happens at the end may make you hate me.

Leave now or continue on reading. Doesn't matter to me, but I will remind you one more time that this was based on a dream I had. I will most likely end up getting comments of "you are totally ruining the feeling of GOW." or "YOU SUCK! THAT WOULD NEVER HAPPEN!"  
SO, as an attempt to lessen the attacks, I know! I know this would never happen! Suck it up and don't go back on fanfiction if you don't like it!  
oh, I know this is short. I'm really sorry!! Exams, finals and provincials are killing me.

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CHAPTER 2.

Stephanie shivered as dust particles floated around her face. She struggled to keep herself from coughing and gulped down painfully. Her throat itched and she longed clear it. She smacked her head sideways against uprooted pavement to distract herself from trying to cough. Have you ever had a time where you couldn't relieve a pain or itch because you weren't allowed to move, that would cause you to make a mistake? That's exactly how Stephanie felt. Except it was a matter of life and death.

She could feel an hour pass by until she could hear the sweet sound of silence. Her lower body was numb from sitting in the same position, but she forced herself to endure it for another hour to make sure she was safe. Paranoia kept her from leaving her temporary hiding place, but it also kept her farther away from reaching her brother.

A sudden thought crossed her mind. She had to find a new place to stay. A safe shelter. It was getting dark soon and if she didn't find another place, she'd be stuck in the cramped place under the rubble for the whole night. Stephanie moved to get up and crawl out of her hiding place, but stopped when she heard a voice in the distance, coming closer.

"Yooouu bastards thi-think you're sooo tough." A voice slurred out. The man was obviously drunk. "Cowards!" He yelled. Stephanie moved again to peek out and see what was happening. A man was walking backwards away from a lone locust. "You killed my best friend." He moaned. It confused Stephanie as to why he hadn't shot him yet. She was answered as the man tripped and fell onto his back with a groan. The locust laughed in amusement. The locust was letting the man make a fool out of himself. Were all locust that sadistic?

The man propped himself up on his elbows and watched the locust warily, but in an almost lazy-like fashion. He glanced back at Stephanie and she felt their eyes meet. She knew he saw her and her initial reaction was to shrink back into the shadow of her hiding spot. To her surprise, he looked back pretending not to notice her and he spoke again, but in a voice that wasn't influenced by alcohol, "I had a daughter. I've never met her, but she'd be about ten by now." He talked as if he was expecting the locust to understand and have some sympathy. "You know why I've never met her? Because you fuckers killed her when she wasn't even born yet." The man laughed.

"My wi- m--my wife. My daugh--daughter." He sat up and held his head in his hands. It was like an automatic change in mood from laughing at something that isn't funny to crying hysterically.

Even still, the locust was silent.

Stephanie knew, even before the man reached into his pockets, what he was going to do. He pointed a handgun up at the locust. The locust didn't react to it, but continued to hold the larger gun to it's chest, pointing up at an angle.

The man pulled the trigger back and shot.

_Bang!_

Then silence.

He had shot not at the locust, but at himself. He fell back onto the cement and blood immediately began to pour out in little red streams. She gasped and the locust's head instantly turned in her direction. Stephanie unconsciously started to whimper and shuffled back as far as she could.

She had been heard.

Stephanie held her hands over her head. It was a sort of automatic reaction, even though it would do her no good. She could hear the footsteps of the locust coming closer. The entrance of her hiding place was covered by a large shadow and she began to hyperventilate.  
_She was going to die._

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Whoo whoo! It's not over yet! Obviously the part that's supposed to make you think I'm a freak isn't here yet. This chapter is pretty dark though lol.

So, who has played GOW 2 yet? I had to say, I was pretty disappointed. It was really short and didn't take me long to beat it the first time on hardcore. I dunno, what did you guys think? I really liked that scene with Maria and Dom. Made my friend cry hehehehe.

Oh, I know in Jacinto, locusts could still get in, but let's just say in my story, Jacinto is really big and Stephanie lived in an area where everything was blocked off and locusts couldn't get in.


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